The week at the island had passed easily for the vast majority of the Whitebeard crew. But as for you and Marco, not so much. Marco knew exactly what was going on but you had no experience with what was happening around you. All you knew was you kept finding yourself in interesting situations with Marco.

Things started off tame. The first thing to happen was someone tripping him up so he'd stumble into you, forcing you two to touch. That left you a bit flustered for a while and him apologizing for almost taking you out. From there, it escalated. Ace suggested to him at one point in the week that you needed help brushing tangles out of your tail. He'd learned it was very sensitive to the touch when he grabbed it once. Unfortunately Marco didn't know that.

When he went to help with something he thought would be innocent enough, it turned into you blushing madly and holding your tail defensively while trying to explain to him why touching it could be considered suggestive in the nicest way possible.

From there, Thatch thought it'd be cute to make the food for both of you into hearts on a regular basis. You didn't notice Marco getting the same treatment as he was too fast to hide the evidence and you were just confused as to why Thatch suddenly felt the need to make your food into different shapes.

Izo decided that pineapples suited you and started getting you pineapple themed anything and everything. He'd actually gotten you a bandana with the fruit on it that you loved. He'd showed you how to use it to keep your hair up and out of the way and you'd been using it all the time.

The strangest thing the men decided to do most recently was steal all of Marco's clothes while he was in the shower and hide them. He came out of his room in nothing but a towel, ready to start a fight. Everyone else got a laugh out of it while you found yourself too embarrassed to look at him straight.

When Marco had finally had enough of the nonsense, he got up earlier than usual one morning, making sure not to disturb you as he left the room. Both of you had been sleeping in on a regular basis with you getting to stay in a bed throughout the night and him not having to worry about you. That meant that most of the men were already up and moving by the time you two got up. Marco had a bit of time to talk to the culprits of your hectic week before you got up and he planned on doing just that.

The group of men he was looking for were gathered in the dining room, huddled together and as Marco assumed, probably planning their next stunt. Ace sat on the edge of a table with Thatch taking up part of the bench beside him. Izo stood at the head while Vista and Jozu were on the other side of Ace and Thatch. As soon as they saw Marco approaching, they quieted down and plastered on wide smiles.

"I don't care what you guys think but you aren't slick-yoi."

"What do you mean by that?" Izo asked, straight faced.

"You know what I mean. Quit messing with (Y/n) and I."

"We have no idea what you're talking about." Ace was casual as he let out a yawn.

"Stop with the bullshit Ace."

"You sound suspicious Marco, why would you think we're giving you two a hard time?" Vista was as innocent as a pirate could possibly be.

Marco let out a groan of frustration. "You guys can drop the act, I know what you're doing and it's not going to work. (Y/n) is too young and is better off having flings like the rest of you, not getting involved with me."

"Sounds like you're projecting your possible relationship problems on to us big guy." Thatch snickered. "She doesn't seem like the kind of person to go for a fling and if you've got the hots for her and are worried about age, you shouldn't be. I've got the impression that she likes you."

"Then it's not just me seeing that." Jozu agreed.

"Oh she's definitely got eyes for him." Izo nodded.

"What? No she doesn't." Marco growled.

"Remember when she got you those books? Completely her idea, not mine."

"And she's always coming around to spend time with you." Ace noted.

"Your the only person she listens to when it comes to commands." Vista added.

"Except Pops." Jozu got a few nods with that one.

"That doesn't mean she-"

"And you should see the way she looks at you." Izo sighed. "It's real endearing. I wish someone would look in my direction the same way. The girl is head over heels for you."

"That's just it guys. She's just a girl. (Y/n) is too young to know what she wants."

"Hey (Y/n)!" Ace yelled, making Marco jump and turn to see you entering the dining room, still rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

"Hey guys." You smiled when you saw them all piled together.

"We had a question for you." Ace leapt to his feet and dragged you over, making you and Marco sit down together beside Thatch.

"Okay?"

"If you liked someone on the ship, you'd let us know right?"

"Um, yeah I guess." You shifted around nervously, now hyper aware of how you were sandwiched between Thatch and Marco.

"Then do you like someone?" Thatch gave you a sly smile and as you looked around the table, every single face held a similar expression.

"Why is this important again?"

"We were just wanting to clear something up." Izo shrugged.

"Clear what up?"

"Marco here thinks you don't have anyone here that interests you."

"Well....." You fiddled with the tip of your tail, gently tugging small tangles out of the fur to distract yourself.

"You don't have to say who, just a yes or no will suffice." Vista quickly added.

".....Yeah."

You stared down at your tail, feeling the beginnings of a blush tint your cheeks. It wasn't easy to even mention it with Marco sitting right by you, his leg pressed against yours and the warmth of his body radiating out to you. It had you hyper aware of his presence.

"Another question for ya." Ace continued on. "I don't think anyone's asked, how old are you?"

That took a sudden turn that caught you by surprise.

"I think I was about 24 before I was stuck as a wolf. So that'd put me at about 26 or 27 I think?" You pondered the details. The fuzzy parts from being stuck in your canine form had never cleared up. There were things that you had yet to figure out for sure and you doubted you ever would.

"Oh well shit." Thatch chuckled. "I thought you were a lot younger than that, maybe closer to Ace's age actually."

"I think it's a druid thing." You relaxed as the conversation drifted away from possible partnerships. They seemed content with the knowledge that you liked someone and weren't prodding for further details. "When we were on the island they all looked really young now that I think about it."

"You're just not that old." Marco shrugged and smiled at you. "Practically a baby."

"Am not." You frowned back.

"Yeah! If she's a baby, what does that make me?" Ace joined in, somehow also offended.

"Nothing more than a twinkle in your father's eye." Jozu grunted and the entire table erupted into fits of laughter on Ace's behalf.

----

You took a deep breath and thought things over one more time. You'd grown accustomed to moving like normal the the point that many of the crewmates were mentioning you were practically as lithe in your human form as you were in your wolf. Talking was normal once again, your habits had returned to what was considered socially acceptable, and you were sleeping pretty well at night now. A whole week without scampering away to get outside. Not to mention you could be in places like the dining room without even breaking a sweat. And to top it all off, your temperature was able to regulate itself. You hadn't needed Marco's jacket in quite some time.

That made you believe you were safe to go between forms. You told Pops you wanted to try shifting back and forth to prove to yourself you could do it and he encouraged it. No one knows your limits better than you and if you were saying you were ready, he believed it. So here you were, standing on the deck in the rattiest clothes you had. In reality, they were Ace's old shorts and a shirt from Thatch that was so stained from time in the kitchen that you could no longer tell what color it used to be. The crew had backed off, leaving you more than enough room to shift and they watched with bated breath.

You bounced on the balls of your feet for a moment, trying to figure out how to go about this. Shifting was strange. You couldn't just command it and let it magically happen. It was more like flexing a muscle, except there wasn't one physically there. But when you focused on that imaginary muscle, it was like a flipped switch and the beast half took over.

On an inhale, you closed your eyes. Exhale and let it happen.

You stumbled to your knees as fur grew along your body and bones rearranged themselves. You could hear things popping and moving under your skin, feel your teeth elongate. Senses sharpened and suddenly you could smell the most delicate of scents. Or lack thereof, such as the missing hint of soap from many of the men who had yet to shower. While your now canine nose wrinkled up at that, your eyes sharpened and everything became more pristine. Every sound was picked up by your ears as they swiveled around. And just like that, you were wolfy again.

The change was completely painless this time and was much faster than it felt. It may have taken all of a few seconds but it felt like it took a solid minute or two. But you were sure that had to do with listening and feeling the process. It sounded worse than listening to someone try and talk around a mouthful of food but it felt refreshing, like dipping into a perfectly cool stream.

You shook your fur out and glanced about the deck, noting the few dropped jaws. Only Marco had seen a transformation so you weren't surprised with how it shocked the others. You stepped around the shredded clothes at your feet and trotted around the deck in a wide circle. Everything felt fine. Your body moved smoothly, like a well oiled machine, and the knowledge of how to shift back stuck. You'd have no problem going between forms.

"Everything fine lass?" Pops asked.

You nodded in return.

There were no animalistic urges. They'd been completely erased and you had complete control over yourself.

"Perfect!" He bellowed. "Boys, be sure to keep old clothes around for when she needs to shift. I'd hate for her to ruin the nice ones."

There were a few chuckles from the crowd before a few men came around to wrestle the giant wolf. It was a good idea to play rough in this form from time to time. It kept you in touch with how it moved for when you needed to use it for a fight or anything else.

As you romped around playfully, Marco watched from beside Pop's chair with a smile on his face, happy that you'd regained complete control. At the same time, the group of misfits had gathered off to the side, watching both of you.

"So we need to up the ante a bit, don't you guys think?" Ace said mischievously.

"Oh definitely. I think I'm more invested in the results than the actual bet at this point." Vista bent over the group, trying not to dwarf them more than he already did.

"Just wait, this will be easier than you guys think." Izo said confidently. "All they need is one more push."